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Rolling Stones songs: I Don’t Know Why
*Click for MORE ROLLING STONES SONGS 1962-PRESENT

You always treat me like a fool/ You kick me when I’m down, that’s you’re rule…

Also known as: Don’t Know Why I Love You
Written by: Wonder/Riser/Hunter/Hardaway
Recorded: Olympic Sound Studios, London, England, June 29-30, July 3 1969
Guest musicians: Ian Stewart (piano), Jimmy Miller (percussion)
*The Stones were putting the last touches to the song in studios when they got a phone call informing them of Brian’s death
*Data taken from Martin Elliott’s book THE ROLLING STONES COMPLETE RECORDING SESSIONS 1962-2012

From Songfacts:
Stevie Wonder was just 18 when he recorded this song, and he did a great job of selling the story of a man who can’t figure out just why he loves a woman so much when she cheats on him and treats him like dirt. As she did with several of her son’s early songs, Wonder’s mother Lula Mae Hardaway helped him write it along with Motown songwriters Don Hunter and Paul Riser.

This was released as a single in February 1969 with “My Cherie Amour” as the B-side. By June, disc jockeys had flipped the single and “Amour” became a bigger hit.

The Rolling Stones recorded this in 1969 – they were working on the song when they found out that their founding member Brian Jones had drowned in his swimming pool. Their version appears on their Metamorphosis compilation. Other artists to cover the song include The Jackson 5 and The Brand New Heavies.

From the Rolling Stones – All the Songs, The Story Behind Every Track book:
You always treat me like a fool, you kick me when I’m down, that’s your rule, I don’t know why I love you… With “I Don’t Know Why,” the Rolling Stones introduce a change of register relative to the tender love songs on Metamorphosis. Here they dip into the catalog of Stevie Wonder, who included the song on his album For Once in My Life (1968) Nearly seven months later, the Stones recorded “I Don’t Know Why” and give a good rendition of the song during a time when soul was playing an increasingly important role in their musical evolution.